Friday, April 11, 2014

Wow! Is this chick smoking hot or what? Her name is Shelby Carter, and I'm uncertain whether she is a model, cheerleader, or softcore porn star. I saved this image quite some time ago, can't recall the source, and really don't feel like wading through the internet today in order to ferret out the mystery of her career habits.

All that I can say is that the Catacombs is adding her name (and this blessed portrait) to the inhouse "APPROVED" list. Now ..... pardon me while I sweat!

Fred Kida [see photo; inset] was a Japanese-American comic book artist, best known
for golden age aviator-hero “Airboy” and his sometime ally Valkyrie, passed
away on April 3, 2014 at the age of ninety-three. Kida worked for Marvel Comics
between the 1950s and the 1970s; eventually handling the company's The Amazing
Spider-Man newspaper comic strip during the early 1980s. Kida also assisted
artist Dan Barry on the long-running strip Flash Gordon from 1958 to 1961, and
then again from 1968 to 1971. The Catacombs extends it sincerest condolences to
his family, friends and fans.

How it all began ....

In 1933, publishers at Eastern Color Press, intent to make better use of their printing equipment (which frequently sat idle between jobs), came up with the idea of printing an 8-page comic section that could be folded down from the large broadsheet to a smaller 9-inch by 12-inch format. The result was the first modern comic book. Containing reprints of newspaper comic strips, this experimental comic book titled "Funnies On Parade" was given away for free. It proved so popular that the following year Eastern published "Famous Funnies" and took the bold step of selling the comic for ten cents through chain stores. The enterprise was a smashing success and Eastern began churning out numerous reprints on a monthly basis. Other publishers, eager to get in on the profits, jumped on the bandwagon and the comic book industry was born!